Monday, October 17, 2022. I slept in until 8 today; a luxury I was afforded due to the comfortable room Leslie and Greg had provided and the fact that I was moving back to John W’s that morning just 5 miles away. That was both not to wear out my welcome and to spend some more time with and do a little riding with John.
It was nice to be able to leave the bulk of my panniers and stuff in one place for 5 days, but it was time to pack up. After coffee and breakfast of poached eggs & toast, I finished loading Papa Hobo, said my thanks and Auf Weidersehens to Greg and Leslie In German that means “until I see you again”. If I’ve learned anything on this part of the trip is Auf Weidersehens happen a lot. Also, Leslie had said she might join John W & I on part of our ride today.
The ride to John’s was mostly downhill so it didn’t take long to cover those five miles. I put my panniers in John’s guest room, did some blog writing and next trip planning and we set out for a ride around the Palo Verdes peninsula. Leslie did join us for a bit and gave John directions to the Wayfarers Chapel. I finally got to see Catalina, too, though it was still obscured by fog somewhat. Another Auf Weidersehen to Leslie and we were off.
The Wayfarers Chapel was designed by Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright’s son. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves as testament to the structure. After the chapel, we climbed back up over the peninsula on the gentlest switchback climb ever. That and the views of Capistrano to the west, San Pedro to the east and the LA valley to the north made for a great day of riding and scenery.
On the way back, John took me to a local bike shop to see if they could fix the cracked rack or if they knew of a welder. Nope! I called a couple of welders who were close by and got one no then Gary at Fabricators Welding who said to bring the bike over. We rode the 4 miles to the shop and Gary let us in and I took off the rack. “$60” Then Gary brought out a magnet and it wouldn’t stick. “Aluminum” No, that’s not strong enough. “Titanium” No, that’s too expensive. I looked up the rack on the Pelago website — it was stainless steel. “Oh, that’s $80 for TIG welding, and can’t guarantee it won’t break again and how much did that thing cost?” “$80”. So, I said no thanks and we made our way back to John’s. The crack was at a weak point where there’s a hole to let the welding gasses escape (according to Gary), but the part of the support isn’t holding the bag up, but what the bungee clips on to. Also, the rack configuration would let me put the bags up higher, and it wasn’t a show stopper, and it should be under warranty. I took a couple pics and sent them off to Freeze Thaw to see what the warranty procedure was. John and I watched the Chargers beat the Broncos on early in the evening Monday Night Football while I updated my blog and sent some Warm Showers requests. Time for bed!
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